A few days. In a few days, I have to walk across the elementary gym with two other people and face a table that is full of judges. With every step across that floor I will focus on putting one foot in front of another while my ponytail and bow swing back and forth at the top of my head. I have to force that nervous smile on my face and pretend that everything is ok. This is cheer tryouts.

Most people that think of cheerleading think that all cheer consists of is a bunch of dimwitted girls who scream loudly, are annoyingly perky and don’t do anything. Well, if you think that, you are wrong and saying that cheer is easy, would be making the understatement of the century. Cheer tryouts are possibly the most stressful sports to try out for. It consists of three days of conditioning your body, learning a dance, a cheer, and a side line. All in a total of six hours! This may not sound hard but I can guarantee that it is.

Throughout these three days you have to put in 110% while you are doing the workouts, you have to stay happy-go-lucky while doing the cheers and you have to make sure that your jumps are high even after you have been standing for over an hour and you ran. If you think that it’s easy I dare you to try it. High jumps? In my opinion are the exact opposites of easy. You have to focus on your height, having your toes pointed, extending your legs, pointing your toes, making your arms stiff, and throughout all of that still smiling.

This year tryouts will be this week. Wednesday through Friday and then the actual tryout part will be the following Monday. Most years I would still be stressed out for this but this year the pressure is unusually high. There are 12 seniors and five juniors trying out for varsity and only 12 spots on the team with many rumors going around saying who is guaranteed a spot and who doesn’t have a chance. This alone is hard to deal with considering I’m only going to be a junior, however, there is even more that I have to deal with this year. On Thursday I have to run back and forth between my dress rehearsal for dance and then back to tryouts. With only three practice days, every minute counts toward your actual try out.

So tomorrow, the stress and peppiness will have to start flowing out naturally for the upcoming cheerleaders of Galway and the cafeteria will turn into a teenage girl battle ground. The competition is high and the pressure is on so all of the girls will be trying out for a total of 24 spots on the team. Even after all these girls give their teachers an evaluation form and sign an agreement, they still aren’t guaranteed a spot. So to all the cheerleaders trying out, keep any attitude you may have on the down low, your bow high and your jumps even higher! Good luck Galway!